"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar." - Helen Keller

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

You Don't Matter

My day started with a trip to Michael's craft store, and this is what I found in the parking lot.

Then I went to another strip shopping center to take a look at TJ MAXX. Next to TJ MAXX is a storefront for an auction company. I'm not sure exactly how the auction and subsequent purchasing happens, but there are always people loading items into pickup trucks. And those pickup trucks are all parked in the four handicapped spots allotted for the shopping center. None of them have handicapped license plates or placards displayed.

Assuming, however, that there had been a handicapped parking space available, getting a wheelchair into TJ MAXX would still have been impossible. The ramp from the parking area to the sidewalk leading to TJ MAXX was covered in piled snow. And, the sidewalk which led to the store had not been cleared of snow or ice. Only the very front entrance, the one people without mobility aids use, and the one with a 5 inch curb, had been cleared.

It's obvious a great many merchants don't care whether or not people with disabilities can get into their stores. Maybe they make enough money from their non-disabled customers to not really care. But how can individuals that work there, that shop there, not care?

I'm past the point of attributing these oversights to ignorance. I believe we just have a lot of callous, self-centered, non-caring people in the world.

Ashley Lynn

Why is this blog named Pipecleaner Dreams?

Who I am...

I am Ashley's Mom and the luckiest person in the world. I've often heard that if one is 'good' in this world, they will receive their rewards in the next. But, I have already received my reward - I have been given the privilege of raising this beautiful child. I'm a single parent of 5 children, 4 of whom have significant disabilities. They are all so very special and each has their own piece of my heart.